Who am I? Developing pre-service teacher identity in a digital world

The notions of identity and teacher education have attracted considerable research over the years, revealing a strong correlation between teacher beliefs and practices and the resultant impact on pedagogical practices in the classroom. In an era where the use of digital technologies should be synonymous with teacher pedagogical practices and transforming education, there is a growing need for pre-service teachers to develop an identity that resonates with pedagogical practices that engage and connect with students in a positive and productive way. With many educational institutions also mandating that educators use digital technologies as a tool to support and enhance teaching, pre-service teacher education needs to ensure that students understand and develop a positive identity within this digital world. Current literature acknowledges that many educators adopt digital technologies in the classroom without sometimes fully understanding its scope or impact. It is within this context that this paper reports on a three-year study of first year pre-service education students and their understanding of identity in a digital world. More specifically, the study identifies how students currently use social and digital media in their personal and professional lives to identify themselves online in order to promote a positive image. The study also seeks to identify how these technologies and an understanding of identity can be utilised to promote a positive first year experience.

Enabling a positive first year experience in higher education through social media and mobile technologies

The first year experience for students within Higher Education institutions has become increasingly important as these institutions strive to improve student retention rates. With many universities also focusing on transforming teaching and learning in an effort to attract and retain students, there is a growing demand to understand and respond to individual student requirements, such as the need to feel a sense of belonging. The literature identifies a sense of belonging as being paramount to a students satisfaction with the institution and it is within this context that this paper reports on a three year study of how first year pre-service education students use social media and mobile technologies in their personal lives and their formal education. More specifically, the study identifies trends in the use of these technologies and the growing need for students to use digital media sharing tools to connect and engage with their peers. The paper contrasts the differences in use between these groups as it seeks to identify the role these technologies can play in their teaching and learning, as well as in promoting an overall positive first year experience.

Mobile communications : a study of factors influencing consumer use of m-services

New mobile digital communication technologies present opportunities for advertisers to capitalize on the evolving relationships of consumers with their mobile devices and their desire to access enhanced information services while mobile (m-services). Consumers already use mobile devices (cell phones, personal mobile digital assistants) for traditional phone calls and message handling (e.g., Kalakota and Robinson, 2002; Sullivan Mort and Drennan, 2002). The combination of rapidly developing mobile digital technology and high uptake rates of mobile devices presents enormous potential for delivery of m-services through these devices (Bitner, Brown, and Meuter, 2000). M-services encompass a wide variety of types including the ability to trade stock, to book theater and movie tickets while accessing seating plans online, to send and receive text and pictures, and receive personalized direct advertising such as alerts for shopping bargains. Marketing communications, and specifically advertising, may be delivered as an m-service and termed m-services advertising, forming part of the broader category of m-services. However, advertising research has not yet addressed the area of m-services and needs to do so to be able to take advantage of the advanced interactivity (Yadav and Varadarajan, 2005) of mobile communication devices. Such advertising research is likely to help develop open attitudes and responses to new business models as has been advocated for other new technology such as advanced television (Tauder, 2005). In this article, we model the factors influencing the use of m-services, in the context of consumers' existing relationships with mobile devices. First, we address the value propositions underpinning consumer involvement with mobile devices. Next, we canvass the types of involvement relevant to this consumption domain and argue that involvement, together with personal attributes innovativeness and self-efficacy, will influence use of m-services. Finally, implications for advertising delivered as an m-service are discussed, the potential for m-services advertising as part of m-commerce are canvassed, and directions for future research identified.

Leveraging mundane technologies for group mobile social communication

This paper outlines results from the long-term deployment of a system for mobile group socialization which utilizes a variety of mundane technologies to support cross-media notifications and messaging. We focus here on the results as they pertain to usage of mundane technologies, particularly the use of such technologies within the context of a cross-media system. We introduce “Rhub”, our prototype, which was designed to support coordination, communication and sharing amongst informal social groups. We also describe and discuss the usage of the “console,” a text-based syntax to enable consistent use across text messaging, instant messaging, email and the web. The prototype has been in active use for over 18 months by over 170 participants, who have used it on an everyday basis for their own socializing requirements.

Final report : enabling team collaboration with pervasive and mobile computing

This is the final report of research project 2002-057-C: Enabling Team Collaboration with Pervasive and Mobile Computing. The research project was carried out by the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation and has two streams that consider the use of pervasive computing technologies in two different contexts. The first context was the on-site deployment of mobile computing devices, where as the second context was the use and development of intelligent rooms based on sensed environments and new human-computer interfaces (HCI) for collaboration in the design office. The two streams present a model of team collaboration that relies on continues communication to people and information to reduce information leakage. This report consists of five sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Research Project Background; (3) Project Implementation; (4) Case Studies and Outcomes; and (5) Conclusion and Recommendation. Introduction in Section 1 presents a brief description of the research project including general research objectives and structure. Section 2 introduces the background of the research and detailed information regarding project participants, objectives and significance, and also research methodology. Review of all research activities such as literature review and case studies are summarised in Project Implementation in Section 3. Following this, in Section 4 the report then focuses on analysing the case studies and presents their outcomes. Conclusion and recommendation of the research project are summarised in Section 5. Other information to support the content of the report such as research project schedule is provided in Appendices. The purpose of the final project report is to provide industry partners with detailed information on the project activities and methodology such as the implementation of pervasive computing technologies in the real contexts. The report summarises the outcomes of the case studies and provides necessary recommendation to industry partners of using new technologies to support better project collaboration.

Planning mobile futures : the border artistry of International Baccalaureate Diploma choosers

This paper reports on a study of students choosing the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) over state-based curricula in Australian schools. The IBD was initially designed as a matriculation certificate to facilitate international mobility. While first envisaged as a lifestyle agenda for cultural elites, such mobility is now widespread with more people living ‘beyond the nation’ through choice or circumstance. Beck (2007) and others highlight how the capacity to cross national borders offers a competitive edge with which to strategically pursue economic and cultural capital. Beck’s ‘border artistes’ are those who use national borders to their individual advantage through reflexive strategy. The study explored the rationales and strategy behind the choice of the IBD curriculum expressed by students in a focus group interview and an online survey. This paper reports on their imagined transnational routes and mobile orientations, and how a localised curriculum limits their imagined mobile futures.

A psychosocial approach to understanding young Australians' mobile phone behaviour

This thesis by publication contributes to our knowledge of psychological factors underlying a modern day phenomenon, young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Specifically, the thesis reports a PhD program of research which adopted a social psychological approach to explore mobile phone behaviour among young Australians aged between 15 and 24 years. A particular focus of the research program was to explore both the cognitive and behavioural aspects of young people’s mobile phone behaviour which for the purposes of this thesis is defined as mobile phone involvement. The research program comprised three separate stages which were developmental in nature, in that, the findings of each stage of the research program informed the next. The overarching goal of the program of research was to improve our understanding of the psychosocial factors influencing young people’s mobile phone behaviour. To achieve this overall goal, there were a number of aims to the research program which reflect the developmental nature of this thesis. Given the limited research into the mobile phone behaviour in Australia, the first two aims of the research program were to explore patterns of mobile phone behaviour among Australian youth and explore the social psychological factors relating to their mobile phone behaviour. Following this exploration, the research program sought to develop a measure which captures the cognitive and behavioural aspects of mobile phone behaviour. Finally, the research program aimed to examine and differentiate the psychosocial predictors of young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and their level of involvement with their mobile phone. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used throughout the program of research. Five papers prepared during the three stages of the research program form the bulk of this thesis. The first stage of the research program was a qualitative investigation of young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Thirty-two young Australians participated in a series of focus groups in which they discussed their mobile phone behaviour. Thematic data analysis explored patterns of mobile phone behaviour among young people, developed an understanding of psychological factors influencing their use of mobile phones, and identified that symptoms of addiction were emerging in young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Two papers (Papers 1 and 2) emanated from this first stage of the research program. Paper 1 explored patterns of mobile phone behaviour and revealed that mobile phones were perceived as being highly beneficial to young people’s lives, with the ability to remain in constant contact with others being particularly valued. The paper also identified that symptoms of behavioural addiction including withdrawal, cognitive and behavioural salience, and loss of control, emerged in participants’ descriptions of their mobile phone behaviour. Paper 2 explored how young people’s need to belong and their social identity (two constructs previously unexplored in the context of mobile phone behaviour) related to their mobile phone behaviour. It was revealed that young people use their mobile phones to facilitate social attachments. Additionally, friends and peers influenced young people’s mobile phone behaviour; for example, their choice of mobile phone carrier and their most frequent type of mobile phone use. These papers laid the foundation for the further investigation of addictive patterns of behaviour and the role of social psychological factors on young people’s mobile behaviour throughout the research program. Stage 2 of the research program focussed on developing a new parsimonious measure of mobile phone behaviour, the Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), which captured the cognitive and behavioural aspects of mobile phone use. Additionally, the stage included a preliminary exploration of factors influencing young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Participants (N = 946) completed a questionnaire which included a pool of items assessing symptoms of behavioural addiction, the uses and gratifications relating to mobile phone use, and self-identity and validation from others in the context of mobile phone behaviour. Two papers (Papers 3 & 4) emanated from the second stage of the research program. Paper 3 provided an important link between the qualitative and quantitative components of the research program. Qualitative data from Stage 1 indicated the reasons young people use their mobile phones and identified addictive characteristics present in young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Results of the quantitative study conducted in Stage 2 of the research program revealed the uses and gratifications relating to young people’s mobile phone behaviour and the effect of these gratifications on young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and three indicators of addiction, withdrawal, salience, and loss of control. Three major uses and gratifications: self (such as feeling good or as a fashion item), social (such as contacting friends), and security (such as use in an emergency) were found to underlie much of young people’s mobile phone behaviour. Self and social gratifications predicted young people’s frequency of mobile phone use and the three indicators of addiction but security gratifications did not. These results provided an important foundation for the inclusion of more specific psychosocial predictors in the later stages of the research program. Paper 4 reported the development of the mobile phone involvement questionnaire and a preliminary exploration of the effect of self-identity and validation from others on young people’s mobile phone behaviour. The MPIQ assessed a unitary construct and was a reliable measure amongst this cohort. Results found that self-identity influenced the frequency of young people’s use whereas self-identity and validation from others influenced their level of mobile phone involvement. These findings provided an important indication that, in addition to self factors, other people have a strong influence on young people’s involvement with their mobile phone and that mobile phone involvement is conceptually different to frequency of mobile phone use. Stage 3 of the research program empirically examined the psychosocial predictors of young people’s mobile behaviour and one paper, Paper 5, emanated from this stage. Young people (N = 292) from throughout Australia completed an online survey assessing the role of self-identity, ingroup norm, the need to belong, and self-esteem on their frequency of mobile phone use and their mobile phone involvement. Self-identity was the only psychosocial predictor of young people’s frequency of mobile phone use. In contrast, self-identity, ingroup norm, and need to belong all influenced young people’s level of involvement with their mobile phone. Additionally, the effect of self-esteem on young people’s mobile phone involvement was mediated by their need to belong. These results indicate that young people who perceive their mobile phone to be an integral part of their self-identity, who perceive that mobile phone is common amongst friends and peers, and who have a strong need for attachment to others, in some cases driven by a desire to enhance their self-esteem, are most likely to become highly involved with their mobile phones. Overall, this PhD program of research has provided an important contribution to our understanding of young Australians’ mobile phone behaviour. Results of the program have broadened our knowledge of factors influencing mobile phone behaviour beyond the approaches used in previous research. The use of various social psychological theories combined with a behavioural addiction framework provided a novel examination of young people’s mobile behaviour. In particular, the development of a new measure of mobile phone behaviour in the research program facilitated the differentiation of the psychosocial factors influencing frequency of young people’s mobile phone behaviour and their level of involvement with their mobile phone. Results of the research program indicate the important role that mobile phone behaviour plays in young people’s social development and also signals the characteristics of those people who may become highly involved with their mobile phone. Future research could build on this thesis by exploring whether mobile phones are affecting traditional social psychological processes and whether the results in this research program are generalisable to other cohorts and other communication technologies.

Impact of zooming and enhancing Region of Interests for optimizing user experience on mobile sports video

In mobile videos, small viewing size and bitrate limitation often cause unpleasant viewing experiences, which is particularly important for fast-moving sports videos. For optimizing the overall user experience of viewing sports videos on mobile phones, this paper explores the benefits of emphasizing Region of Interest (ROI) by 1) zooming in and 2) enhancing the quality. The main goal is to measure the effectiveness of these two approaches and determine which one is more effective. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the overall user experience, the study considers user’s interest in video content and user’s acceptance of the perceived video quality, and compares the user experience in sports videos with other content types such as talk shows. The results from a user study with 40 subjects demonstrate that zooming and ROI-enhancement are both effective in improving the overall user experience with talk show and mid-shot soccer videos. However, for the full-shot scenes in soccer videos, only zooming is effective while ROI-enhancement has a negative effect. Moreover, user’s interest in video content directly affects not only the user experience and the acceptance of video quality, but also the effect of content type on the user experience. Finally, the overall user experience is closely related to the degree of the acceptance of video quality and the degree of the interest in video content. This study is valuable in exploiting effective approaches to improve user experience, especially in mobile sports video streaming contexts, whereby the available bandwidth is usually low or limited. It also provides further understanding of the influencing factors of user experience.

A survey on usage of mobile video in Australia

The growth of powerful entertainment functions of mobile devices, in particular mobile video, has recently attracted much attention. Studies on mobile TV, one form of mobile video, have been conducted in many countries. However, little research focuses on the holistic usage of mobile video. To understand the features of such usage, we conducted an online survey in Brisbane, Australia, during the first half of 2010. Our findings reveal similarities and diversities between usage of mobile TV in particular and mobile video on the whole. The results could aid in improving the design of future studies, with a view to ultimately increase user satisfaction.

Motivating domestic energy conservation through comparative, community-based feedback in mobile and social media

The progress of technology has led to the increased adoption of energy monitors among household energy consumers. While the monitors available on the market deliver real-time energy usage feedback to the consumer, the format of this data is usually unengaging and mundane. Moreover, it fails to address consumers with different motivations and needs to save and compare energy. This paper presents a study that seeks to provide initial indications for motivation-specific design of energy-related feedback. We focus on comparative feedback supported by a community of energy consumers. In particular, we examine eco-visualisations, temporal self-comparison, norm comparison, one-on-one comparison and ranking, whereby the last three allow us to explore the potential of socialising energy-related feedback. These feedback types were integrated in EnergyWiz – a mobile application that enables users to compare with their past performance, neighbours, contacts from social networking sites and other EnergyWiz users. The application was evaluated in personal, semi-structured interviews, which provided first insights on how to design motivation-related comparative feedback.

Using a social networking site such as Facebook, to enhance the feeling of belonging, within a first year nursing cohort of a large university

Recently I asked a first year student how he was coping with the transition from high school to university. The young fellow looked at me and said, “Man, everything is so different!” I smiled and said “like what?” with which he seriously replied, “Well for one thing, no one tells you that you have to wear a hat at lunch time.” I have to admit I was a little amused and surprised by this student’s response, as so often the focus, is placed on getting first year students to engage academically, when it is obvious at times, that even the mere transition in to university life and the culture itself, can be a hurdle. While teaching, within a large first year unit for over 10 years, it has become apparent that students want more connection with not only the peers that they study with, but also with the University as a whole. Dr Krause pointed out in her keynote paper, On Being Strategic about the First Year (2006), that this “sense of belonging is conducive to enhancing engagement, satisfaction with learning and commitment to study”. It has also become evident, that the way in which students want to be able to communicate has changed, with the advent of capabilities such as Instant Messaging via a network and Short Message Service SMS texting via their hand held mobile phones. To be able to chat and feel connected on social networking sites such as Bebo, Facebook and Twitter is not only a way of the future, it is here now and it is here to stay.

Bridging the representation and interaction challenges of mobile context-aware computing: designing agile ridesharing

The increasing capability of mobile devices and social networks to gather contextual and social data has led to increased interest in context-aware computing for mobile applications. This paper explores ways of reconciling two different viewpoints of context, representational and interactional, that have arisen respectively from technical and social science perspectives on context-aware computing. Through a case study in agile ridesharing, the importance of dynamic context control, historical context and broader context is discussed. We build upon earlier work that has sought to address the divide by further explicating the problem in the mobile context and expanding on the design approaches.

Saving bitrate vs. pleasing users : where is the break-even point in mobile video quality?

This paper presents a comprehensive study to find the most efficient bitrate requirement to deliver mobile video that optimizes bandwidth, while at the same time maintains good user viewing experience. In the study, forty participants were asked to choose the lowest quality video that would still provide for a comfortable and long-term viewing experience, knowing that higher video quality is more expensive and bandwidth intensive. This paper proposes the lowest pleasing bitrates and corresponding encoding parameters for five different content types: cartoon, movie, music, news and sports. It also explores how the lowest pleasing quality is influenced by content type, image resolution, bitrate, and user gender, prior viewing experience, and preference. In addition, it analyzes the trajectory of users’ progression while selecting the lowest pleasing quality. The findings reveal that the lowest bitrate requirement for a pleasing viewing experience is much higher than that of the lowest acceptable quality. Users’ criteria for the lowest pleasing video quality are related to the video’s content features, as well as its usage purpose and the user’s personal preferences. These findings can provide video providers guidance on what quality they should offer to please mobile users.

The mobile phone : the new communication drum of Papua New Guinea

This thesis examines the role of mobile telephony in rural communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is a threshold study which reports on research conducted in the earliest stages of mobile phone adoption in these areas. It explores the ways in which this new technology changes people’s lives, social structures and relationships. The research focuses on non-urban communities, which previously had little or no access to modern communication technologies, but which are in some cases still using traditional forms of communication such as drums. It has found that the introduction of mobile telecommunications has generally been viewed positively, although several negative concerns have been strongly felt. Specific benefits related to enhanced communication with relatives and friends living away from home villages, and use of the technology in time-critical emergencies or crises. Difficulties have arisen with respect to the cost of owning and operating a handset, as well as financial and logistical challenges when recharging handset batteries, particularly in areas with no mains electricity supply. Perceived damaging effects of mobile phone access related to sex, crime and pornography. The changes taking place are described through a social lens, by foregrounding the perceptions of villagers. The perspectives of key informants, such as telecommunication company managers, are also discussed. Employing the technique of triangulation (using different methods and sources) has helped to validate the findings of the research project. The sources constantly overlap and agree on the main themes, such as those outlined above. PNG is a developing country which performs poorly on a wide range of development indicators. A large majority of the people live outside of the major towns and cities. It is therefore worthwhile investigating the introduction of mobile phone technology in rural areas. These areas often have poor access to services, including transport, health, education and banking. Until 2007, communities in such regions fell outside of mobile phone coverage areas. In the case of all ten villages discussed in this thesis, there has never been any landline telephone infrastructure available. Therefore, this research on mobile phones is in effect documenting the first ever access to any kind of phone in these communities. This research makes a unique contribution to knowledge about the role of communication in PNG, and has implications for policy, practice and theory. In the policy arena, the thesis aids understanding of the impact which communication sector competition and regulation can have on rural and relatively isolated communities. There are three practical problems which have emerged from the research: cost, battery recharging difficulties and breakage are all major obstacles to uptake and use of mobile telephony in rural communities. Efforts to reduce usage costs, enable easier recharging, and design more robust handsets would allow for increased utilisation of mobile phones for a range of purposes. With respect to the realm of theory, this research sits amongst the most recent scholarship in the mobile phone field, located within the broader communication theory area. It recommends cautionary reading of any literature which suggests that mobile phones will reduce poverty and increase incomes in poor, rural communities in developing countries. Nonetheless, the present research adds weight to mobile phone studies which suggest that the primary advantages of mobile phones in such settings are for the satisfactions of communication of itself, and for social interaction among loved ones.